Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences

[LUIS GUEVARA]

Very nice images . Thank you for sharing them and your thoughts about the camera.

[Quentin]

Hulyss, Hi

Just saw your images-  great work.  Love it

Are you using the close up accessory lens?  I have one on order.

Agree about the camera.  Lens is spectacular.  Sigma showing what they can do when they put their minds to it.

Quentin

[Hulyss]

Hulyss, Hi

Just saw your images-  great work.  Love it

Are you using the close up accessory lens?  I have one on order.

Agree about the camera.  Lens is spectacular.  Sigma showing what they can do when they put their minds to it.

Quentin

Hello Quentin,

No I don't use the close up lense. I don't know if I will buy it or no because I already have the close up lens of my DP2s. The cropping possibility of the DP2m + his excellent bokeh do the job for now. (But I will buy it, I know me ^^).

The close-up lens should improve the already excellent bokeh, I think (or give some special effects).

[tornwald]

Thanks for sharing all!
This camera looks very interesting indeed. Quentin, I have a question for you (and others who have experienced the DP2M)
I come from a film (medium format) background and I have been looking for a digital camera that can match both quality and feel of
my mf film camera. I now own a D800E and i find the quality very good indeed. I would also like to have a compact digital camera with
a prime lens (50 mm range) and one that feels and handles more like shooting film. The DP2M look just like the thing I am looking for.
So my question: In terms of color, detail and feel, how well do u think it behaves like a film camera?
And is the quality of the raw images somewhere as good as the d800's? (not counting sheer resolution)

Oh yes: where have u all ordered one already, and for what price?

Thank you very much!

Cheers,
Ricky

[Quentin]

Thanks for sharing all!
...
 I would also like to have a compact digital camera with
a prime lens (50 mm range) and one that feels and handles more like shooting film. The DP2M look just like the thing I am looking for.
So my question: In terms of color, detail and feel, how well do u think it behaves like a film camera?
And is the quality of the raw images somewhere as good as the d800's? (not counting sheer resolution)

Oh yes: where have u all ordered one already, and for what price?

Thank you very much!

Cheers,
Ricky

Ricky

I'm in the UK and got mine from Clifton Cameras.

A comparison with film is difficult because they are so different.  All I can say is that from your description, you fit the right profile to enjoy the DP2M.  Both the lens ans sensor are outstanding so you can't go far wrong...Just expect to work a little (as with film) to get the best from it.

One point I'd make on value for money.  Some think the DP2M is expensive.  In fact I worked out it cost me about 25% the price of a single one of my Hasselblad lenses...   Given the quality possible, and the superb lens, I think its a steal.

Quentin

[tornwald]

Thanks Quentin!

Yes I am looking for a camera that makes me work a little. To slow me down and make me think and look carefully.
This is maybe my main problem with digital and it is why i love film so much: it slows me down and in the end gives me more keepers
and more the feeling I am realy doing work that matters.

How do u feel about the Foveon sensor? (I have no experience yet with it)
It may not like you say be comparible with film, but does it realy have a different 'look' than
a normal Bayer patern sensor photo? (including the incredible sensor in the d800)
I am not saying i am looking for something 'better' but do the prints realy look and 'feel' different than say from a NEX 7?

I hope I am not being to abstract, but I think you will know what I mean.

Cheers,
Ricky

[Hulyss]

I think the DP2m is the digital equivalent of the kodachrome 64.

[Rob C]

I think the DP2m is the digital equivalent of the kodachrome 64.

With Kodachrome, you could always see the image before you shot it.

My only experience of screens on the back of cameras is with the Ds 200 and 700 and the cellphone. The cellphone (Samsung) is impossible to use intelligently because I can't see anything on it in sunlight; those on the Ds are seldom switched on - if ever - because I find I can trust Nikon's Matrix.

So, my question is, would a DP2 Merrill be any use out in sunshine, where I fear the screen would go as black as on the cellphone, and if manual focussing is done via screen, then how are the two, viewing and focussing, possible in sunlight? I stress, I have no experience of these types of cameras, but would be interested to know if the thing would replace the cellphone (which I would be perfectly happy to do); it looks a lot smaller and lighter than either of my Ds!

Rob C

[Quentin]

Thanks Quentin!

Yes I am looking for a camera that makes me work a little. To slow me down and make me think and look carefully.
This is maybe my main problem with digital and it is why i love film so much: it slows me down and in the end gives me more keepers
and more the feeling I am realy doing work that matters.

How do u feel about the Foveon sensor? (I have no experience yet with it)
It may not like you say be comparible with film, but does it realy have a different 'look' than
a normal Bayer patern sensor photo? (including the incredible sensor in the d800)
I am not saying i am looking for something 'better' but do the prints realy look and 'feel' different than say from a NEX 7?

I hope I am not being to abstract, but I think you will know what I mean.

Cheers,
Ricky

Hi Ricky, I feel  great about the Foveon sensor.   Its not perfect, of course.  In the DP2M, it has been married with a near perfect lens, so it works well.  It has a different look, in my view.  Sigma Photo Pro is a bit limited but it works well.  There is a lot of highlight headroom but to maximise it in that software might require two decodes of an image.  I think I agree with Huyliss it is a bit like Kodachrome 64 in some ways.  A downside is shadw areas can look unsaturated in the reds and yellows.  This can also lead to some green casts at darket frame edges sometimes.  A bit of post processing can sort it out.

Talking about making you (or me ) work, here are two shots I took yesterday in Buy St Edmunds of St Edmundsbury Cathedral.  The purpose was partly to see how far I could push the DP2M as a medium format "lite" camera.

The second image is a stitch of three images.  The final image size in 8bit is 94mb.

[Quentin]

Rob

All I can say is the screen is better than most but like you say, its a pain in bright sunlight - but useable.  The accessory viewfinder I have can be a help here.  On the other hand,  I tiried using a polariser on the DP2M yesterday, and it was nearly impossible to check the effect or whether it was polarising properly.  

[Rob C]

Thanks, Quentin; seems like it wouldn't make me any the happier then... I suppose the bottom line is that there simply are no neater ways to getting a planned shot than via the old and trusted tehniques of yesteryear, bulky and heavy (relatively) as the tools are. Woe is me.

Rob C

[michael]

Just a quick note that I wil be reviewing the DP2 beginning this week.

Michael

[tornwald]

Thanks Quentin!

Great shot by the way

Ricky

[Hulyss]

Just a quick note that I wil be reviewing the DP2 beginning this week.

Michael

Thank you Michael

[tornwald]

Michael,

I am looking forward to that very much! I hope you will be able to write something about this
camera in respect to it's ' uniqueness'  in terms of 'feel and look'  instead of resolution and sheer facts. That would be very interesting indeed.

I hope you'll have a speedy recovery and I wish you all the best Michael

Ricky

[Quentin]

Just a quick note that I wil be reviewing the DP2 beginning this week.

Michael

Well, Michael, I would suggest you treat it a bit like a fine wine.  It takes time to "breathe".

I will be interested to see if your own conclusions match mine.   Other photograpaher's views are always interesting, particularly yours but as you may have surmised from this thread, I have already formed my own!.  

All the best with your recovery.  I owe you lunch or dinner in London 

Quentin

[deejjjaaaa]

Just a quick note that I wil be reviewing the DP2 beginning this week.

Michael

grab an evaluation copy or Iridient Rawdeveloper (and SilkyPix) for raws...  SPP is a very limited converter... unless, of course, it is a sunny day and base ISO

[michael]

grab an evaluation copy or Iridient Rawdeveloper (and SilkyPix) for raws...  SPP is a very limited converter... unless, of course, it is a sunny day and base ISO

I don't see the DP2M listed as supported by Iridient.

Michael

[deejjjaaaa]

I don't see the DP2M listed as supported by Iridient.

Michael

true, I forgot that the last version supported SD1/SD1Merril, but not yet DP1Merril/DP2Merril 

[Quentin]

Having shot with the DP2M for the last couple of weeks, here is my thumbnail sketch of the good, bad and the ugly:

The Good

 - Astonishing sharpness and micro detail, unprecedented in any similar camera I have used and exceeding by some margin the nominal 15mp spatial resolution of the Foveon sensor;

- the ability to interpolate to match or exceed higher resolution Bayer (mosaic) type sensors, approximating (in my tests) 28mp equivalency (maybe higher or lower depending on subject.   As always, your mileage may and very probably will vary);

- Subtle differentiation of natural colours lending a fresh "veil has been lifted" appearance to images - the Foveon magic is in evidence here.  Images just look "right"

- Superb class leading 30mm lens, with almost no CA, and outstanding resolution from center to edge;

- Simple minimalist design and easy menu system.  

- tough metal construction

The bad (and ugly rolled in to one)

- Poor, under developed, raw software.  Does the basics well enough, but no curves function, for example, and frequent crashes (on my Windows machine).  Tendency to blocked shadows.

- Not good above 400 ISO, where noise becomes an issue;

- Some vertical fine "banding" sometimes seen in areas of even colour such as the sky.  There is a lot of noise (excuse the pun) about this on some forums. My take is that the issue is overstated.  I have seen it, but a quick run though your favorite NR program (mine is Neat Image) selectively applied cures the issue.  However, it is unclear whether or not this is as inherent hardware problem that cannot be fixed in firmware of software, or if we might expect a firmware / software update to attack and solve the problem.  If it is an inherent problem, why, and what is the future for yet higher resolution Foveon sensors?  For my part, give me the occasional banding, if removing it would reduce resolution.

- a tendency to go a bit "green" at the edges in low light, and some faint purple blotching at ISO 200 and above in some shadow areas, requiring remedial work in Photoshop

- fixed focal length lens (but what a lens!  Who needs zooms anyway!!)

- no built in flash (if you like that kind of thing) and no viewfinder (optional accessory available but of limited use, but better than a poke in the eye, I suppose)

For me, this camera has been a total revelation.  The heck with the problems (real as they are), the upsides are so great (for me) I have scarcely been able to pick up any other camera in the last few days.  I have never before seen,  in any camera short of high end medium format and digital scan backs,  such pixel level quality and resolution.  

Game changer?  Sorry, its a whole new game.

Quentin